Posts Tagged ‘Soren Kjeldsen’

The children of Straffan National School joined (l-r) Brian McIlroy of the Rory Foundation, Antonia Beggs from The European Tour, Dubai Duty Free Golf Ambassador Des Smyth and Tom Walsh of Waterford Crystal to launch the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Trophy Tour 2016.

FOLLOWING the huge success of last year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Trophy Tour, pupils across Northern Ireland are once again being invited to create history for their school as part of a nationwide competition organised by The European Tour and the Rory Foundation.
Supported by the Confederation of Golf in Ireland (CGI), the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Trophy Tour competition will give four lucky pupils across Ireland a chance to host a visit from the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Trophy which is currently in the possession of defending champion Søren Kjeldsen.
To enter the competition, children between the ages of 9-15 are being invited to tell The European Tour why their class or school deserves a visit from the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Trophy.
Not only will the winning pupils have a chance to get their hands on the prestigious trophy, they will also receive a host of other unique ‘money can’t buy’ prizes for themselves and their schoolmates.
These include a Q&A session with representatives of The European Tour and Rory Foundation and an insight into the life of a professional golfer from Ireland’s Dubai Duty Free golf ambassador Des Smyth, an eight-time winner on the European Tour who played in two Ryder Cups in 1979 and 1981 and was a vice-captain of Europe’s victorious 2006 and 2014 Ryder Cup teams.
Each winning pupil’s class will also receive tickets to go to the Pro-Am event on Wednesday May 18 while the overall winning pupil will receive family tickets for the Pro-Am and a VIP tour with a chance to meet some of the world’s top golfers.
And if that isn’t enough, the four winning schools will also enjoy a fun introduction to golf through the CGI’s ‘Golf Awareness Clinic’ which will give children a fun introduction to the sport through a variety of golf-related games including putting games and hitting real golf balls into a blow up net, and virtual golf on the Wii console.

To enter, schoolchildren aged 9-15 should simply send an email to trophytour@irishopen.ie outlining in no more than 250 words why their class or school deserves to win this unique prize – clearly stating their name, age, address and school. Closing date for entries is April 17 with the prize to be taken between April 25 and May 13.

“Last year we were overwhelmed with the quantity and quality of entries we received for our Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Trophy Tour competition,” said Antonia Beggs of The European Tour.

“We received hundreds of letters from kids throughout the island of Ireland telling us why they deserve to win the prize and we are delighted to be in a position to run the competition again this year.

“It is such a wonderful way for schools to get involved with such a big sporting event that attracts so many high-profile professional golfers and worldwide interest.”
Brian McIlroy of the Rory Foundation said: “The Trophy Tour was a huge part of the 2015 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open for us and something that Rory McIlroy himself was really delighted to get behind.
“Rory is extremely proud of where he comes from and it’s important for him to be as good an ambassador as he can for Ireland, north and south. In addition, his commitment to helping children all over the world through the Rory Foundation is a real passion and one he feels very strongly about.
“We immensely enjoyed our visits to last year’s winning schools and we are all thrilled once again to be able to engage with schoolchildren throughout Ireland to stimulate pride in their class, school, where they’re from, and their own achievements.”
For more information on the 2016 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation or to purchase tickets visit http://Dubai Duty Free Irish OpenThe Dubai Duty Free Irish Open 2016 is also supported by the Irish Government under the auspices of the Fáilte Ireland and Sport Ireland.

He’s bound to face more testing times at the Ryder Cup but Darren Clarke’s EurAsia Cup experience appeared to go off without a hitch.
Europe, with Clarke at the helm, produced a dominant performance and everyone associated with the team left Kuala Lumpur with their reputations intact if not exactly enhanced.
And while it’s easy to dismiss the Asian team as ‘weak’ you can, as the sports pundits put it – ‘only beat what’s put in front of you’.
Darren’s leadership style, certainly to the outside, appeared to be relatively relaxed. He seemed to put a lot of emphasis on creating the right atmosphere within the group, but he was also determined to win and put victory ahead of simply planning for Hazeltine.
“I couldn’t ask more from my team than they have given me. I’ve asked them to enjoy themselves,” he said.

“I hope they played well; they have played well. Match-play golf can be a very tricky format. The team so far have played really, really well. They have bonded well as a team. I don’t think I would change anything at all with what they have done.”

The EurAsia Cup format – with everyone playing all three days – also worked in Darren’s favour. It gave him the chance to focus on what makes a good pairing rather than worry about who to leave out.
Unfortunately, he’s not going to have that luxury come September and he’ll only really know if he’s created the right atmosphere in the Ryder Cup team when he’s forced to leave someone out.
That’s for the future, in this case, and given that Europe performed so well, everyone was fulsome in their praise for Clarke’s efforts.

Andy Sullivan; “It’s been an absolutely fantastic week. The whole team has been unbelievable in the team room. Clarkey has been immense, not left a stone unturned. The way we have gone out and done things, it shows how much we want to be in that Ryder Cup team and how much we want to lift that EurAsia Cup.”

Shane Lowry; “Definitely one of the best weeks of my career so far. I really enjoyed every minute of it. Lads have been great. Darren has been great. The team room has been just the best craic ever. Just one of these weeks where you’ll always remember it.”

Soren Kjeldsen; It’s just been so nice to be part of a team, and to have Darren and Poulter and Westwood every night standing up, explaining what’s the challenges of tomorrow, and the fire in their eyes. We have all seen it on TV for The Ryder Cup and that, but you could really sense this week that it was massive for them, as well, and I think that lifted all of us.”

Clarke recognises that there are more challenging times to come but the EurAsia Cup display has given him a very strong platform as he approaches the rest of the Ryder Cup qualification period, the inevitable wild card debate and the event itself.
He knows there are some areas that need further consideration and is planning a debrief with his team in the coming weeks.
“I think there’s a lot of things that I’ve learnt this week. Time being one of them, I don’t have an awful lot of it,” added Darren.
“There have been a lot of positives this week. Obviously looking towards some Ryder Cup things that’s going to come together. I’ve learnt a few things, and hopefully I’ll do a better job come September. But if the players don’t play and don’t perform, you can be the best captain in the world and you’re not going to win.
“I’ve enjoyed it immensely. It’s been a wonderful learning experience for me. I’ve been around the game a long time and done most things in the game and been fortunate to do so.
“This is different. I really enjoyed it. The guys seemed to listen to what I had to say, and if my little part of it has helped them along, then so be it.”

Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark receives the Irish Open Trophy from Rory McIlroy

Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen proved there is life after 40 by winning the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation at Royal County Down.
Six years after his last victory at the 2009 Open de Andalucía de Golf, Kjeldsen birdied the first playoff hole to deny Bernd Wiesberger and Eddie Pepperell.
“You know, I played all the majors and World Golf Championships back in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and not much happened,” said the Dane, who was right at home in the windy conditions that swept across the famous links all week.

“You reach 40 and you start wondering, you know, am I never going back to Augusta? Am I never going to play the Open again. But I kept waking early. I kept on the range. I kept hitting chip shots and bunker shots and putts.

“I wanted to show that I’ve still got a lot to give and I still absolutely love what I do. So it’s easy for me to spend time practicing and travelling. I’ve been very fortunate doing what I do, and to play the big events, it’s pretty special, because obviously it’s more fun playing with the biggest guys.”
The 2014 staging of the Irish Open was a ‘big event’ and a step up from 2012 at Royal Portrush which was in no small part down to the influence of Rory McIlroy.
The world number one failed to make the cut at RCD but he did return to present the trophy to Kjeldsen and he was clearly satisfied with what had been achieved this year.
“I think for the week, there was a total of 107,000 people here, in spite of the weather not being as we would have liked. So it has been absolutely incredible,” said Rory.
“The support this tournament has got from fans and spectators, volunteers, Royal County Down and sponsors has been incredible. So it has exceeded expectations.
“It’s given us [The Rory Foundation] incredible exposure and allowed people to see what we are trying to achieve and what we’ve been able to do for the Cancer Fund for Children and for Daisy Lodge and to see the work that we have put in there.”